The applicant claims the benefit of his provisional application, Ser. No. 60/025,824, filed Sep. 3, 1996.
The present invention relates to the field of mechanical tools and more particularly tools used for cutting solid, roughly circular materials such as bolts.
The standard bolt cutter is generally made up of two handles connected to a pair of opposing jaws which can be manually separated or brought together by movement of the handles. The connection of the handles to the jaw can be designed to create double action movement which produces greater cutting force. Single action bolt cutters which provide reduced cutting power are also available on the market.
The current state of the art for mechanical bolt cutters generally requires five sizes of cutters to cut steel bolts with a diameter of up to 5/8". This results in the necessity to make and stock many component parts and finally assembled products which increases the cost of bringing the product to market. Further, the state of the art bolt cutters are heavy, relatively expensive to manufacture, and the handles must be made long enough to exert sufficient cutting force. The cutting force in the state of the art bolt cutters is also hindered by the fact the application of cutting force only occurs through a small portion of the handle arc range.
Development of a bolt cutter which has greater cutting power but which can be made lighter, shorter, and less expensively than products presently on the market represents a great improvement in the field of bolt cutters and satisfies a long felt need in the construction industry as well as for other mechanics and home craftsmen.